\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCrowds gathered across the country Saturday for what organizers called \u201cNo Kings\u201d rallies, with demonstrators taking to the streets to voice concerns about leadership, policy and the direction of the nation.In Central Florida, large groups filled downtown Orlando, Baldwin Park, Ocala, Deland, the Villages, Cocoa, Leesburg, Sanford and Ormond Beach. At the rallies, people carried signs, chanted and said they wanted their voices heard. Downtown Orlando saw hundreds of participants earlier in the day, with chants and a lot of crowd energy echoing through the streets. Organizers said the rallies are meant to push back against policies from the Trump administration that they believe go too far.\u201cWe need to send the message that we are not accepting the erosion of our freedom and the erosion of due process, the erosion of voting rights,\u201d said Ericka Gomez-Tejeda, organizing director for Hope Community Center.Protesters held flags and handmade signs, with many saying they felt compelled to attend.\u201cOrlando needs to have its voice, and we need to send a strong message that we don\u2019t agree with what is happening,\u201d Gomez-Tejeda said.Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan also joined the crowd, saying the moment calls for action.\u201cI don\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening in this country right now is disgusting, and I think we need to fight back,\u201d Sheehan said.Sheehan added that the rally is about accountability and constitutional principles.\u201cThis is a ‘No Kings’ protest; there should be checks and balances according to the Constitution,\u201d she said.For Sheehan, the issue is personal as well.\u201cI love America, but I do not love what is happening to this country right now, and I\u2019m also an immigrant,\u201d she said.Immigration was a central issue for many attendees, with demonstrators calling for changes to current policies and greater protections.\u201cWe want action, we want ICE out of our jails, schools out of our communities and out of our police departments,\u201d Gomez-Tejeda said.Organizers said the rallies are part of a broader national movement, and they plan to continue pushing their message in the days ahead.\u201cWe want to have liberty and justice for all,\u201d Gomez-Tejeda said. Organizers said all the rallies were peaceful.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Crowds gathered across the country Saturday for what organizers called \u201cNo Kings\u201d rallies, with demonstrators taking to the streets to voice concerns about leadership, policy and the direction of the nation.<\/p>\n
In Central Florida, large groups filled downtown Orlando, Baldwin Park, Ocala, Deland, the Villages, Cocoa, Leesburg, Sanford and Ormond Beach. <\/p>\n
At the rallies, people carried signs, chanted and said they wanted their voices heard. <\/p>\n
Downtown Orlando saw hundreds of participants earlier in the day, with chants and a lot of crowd energy echoing through the streets. <\/p>\n
Organizers said the rallies are meant to push back against policies from the Trump administration that they believe go too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to send the message that we are not accepting the erosion of our freedom and the erosion of due process, the erosion of voting rights,\u201d said Ericka Gomez-Tejeda, organizing director for Hope Community Center.<\/p>\n
Protesters held flags and handmade signs, with many saying they felt compelled to attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrlando needs to have its voice, and we need to send a strong message that we don\u2019t agree with what is happening,\u201d Gomez-Tejeda said.<\/p>\n
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan also joined the crowd, saying the moment calls for action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening in this country right now is disgusting, and I think we need to fight back,\u201d Sheehan said.<\/p>\n
Sheehan added that the rally is about accountability and constitutional principles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a ‘No Kings’ protest; there should be checks and balances according to the Constitution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Sheehan, the issue is personal as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love America, but I do not love what is happening to this country right now, and I\u2019m also an immigrant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Immigration was a central issue for many attendees, with demonstrators calling for changes to current policies and greater protections.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want action, we want ICE out of our jails, schools out of our communities and out of our police departments,\u201d Gomez-Tejeda said.<\/p>\n
Organizers said the rallies are part of a broader national movement, and they plan to continue pushing their message in the days ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to have liberty and justice for all,\u201d Gomez-Tejeda said. <\/p>\n
Organizers said all the rallies were peaceful. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crowds gathered across the country Saturday for what organizers called \u201cNo Kings\u201d rallies, with demonstrators taking to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[147,96269,2878,96270,2275,3894,9226,3684,6692,139,141,140,14126,6683,52812,3577,728,96268],"class_list":["post-210083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-central-florida","tag-country-saturday","tag-crowd","tag-demonstrator","tag-downtown-orlando","tag-erosion","tag-king","tag-leesburg","tag-organizer","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-policy","tag-rally","tag-sheehan","tag-sign","tag-street","tag-voice-concern"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}